5 die of diarrhea in Cambodia

PHNOM PENH, June 30 (Xinhua) -- Five people have died of diarrhea and 14 others are being hospitalized recently in Cambodia 's northeastern province of Rattanakiri, a health official said Wednesday.

Hoy Sovannara, health official in Rattanakiri province, said five people including two children have died of diarrhea and 14 others are being hospitalized in the province.

He said poor sanitation was the cause of their deaths and those being medically treated.

Hoy Sovannara said that since April this year, several districts in the province reported patients with diarrhea symptoms and it had caused 28 lives.

The latest incident happened on June 27 in O'kating village in Lumphat district, located more than 600 kilometers from Phnom Penh, and preliminary assessment found that they had drunken unclean water, he said.

Last month, Cambodia claimed at least 9 people have died and about 300 others have been medically treated and hospitalized by diarrhea in another province of Kratie, where located about 320 kilometers northeast of Phnom Penh.

Recently, Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen has alerted his people to take more precaution on several causes including diarrhea and lightning that are harmful to human lives in recent months.

He also appealed to doctors and health officers around the country to provide more care to the people.

9 die, 300 others suffer from diarrhea in Cambodia

PHNOM PENH, May 23 (Xinhua) -- At least nine Cambodians have died and about 300 others have been medically treated and hospitalized by diarrhea in Cambodia's northeast province of Kratie, a provincial official said Sunday.

Chhneang Vutha, chief of Kratie provincial health department, told Xinhua by telephone from the province that at least nine people have died and about 300 others have been medically treated and hospitalized by diarrhea since March this year.

He said five districts in the province have been affected by the cause of diarrhea, and he attributed the deaths and suffering of the disease to lack of personal sanitation precaution as well as the lack of toilets in rural areas.

The first diarrhea case was reported in March this year during the dry season which normally begins from November through April.

Kratie is located about 320 kilometers northeast of Phnom Penh.

Recently, Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen has alerted his people to take more precaution on several causes including diarrhea and lighting that are harmful to human lives in recent months.

He, also, appealed to doctors and health officers around the country to provide more care to the people.

Strategies to Prevent Dangerous Diarrhea

A sick young Cambodian girl in Pailin is located in western Cambodia. (Photo: AP)

Nuch Sarita, VOA Khmer
Washington, D.C Friday, 21 May 2010

"The persons who have cholera have a loss of body fluids leading to dehydration and a life-threatening medical condition."

A prolonged hot season in Cambodia has brought about an increasing number of cases of severe diarrhea, including more than 30 that were fatal.

Diarrhea can be dangerous because it causes dehydration, Taing Tek Hong, a Florida-based physician, said on Thursday.

“You need to drink a lot of water or use oral rehydration solutions,” he said, as a guest on “Hello VOA.”

Rehydration solutions are “a mixture of clean water, salt and sugar, which can be prepared safely at home,” he said. “The glucose in the solution is important because it forces the small intestine to quickly absorb the fluid and minerals.”

“Death can follow severe dehydration if body fluids are not replenished,” he said.

Diarrhea can come from infections caused by bacteria, viruses or parasites in water. Water can be contaminated with human waste from sewage, septic tanks, wells and ponds. Diarrhea can be spread from person to person if they don’t take care of personal hygiene. Food can also cause diarrhea if it is prepared or stored in unclean conditions.

“Fish and seafood from polluted water may also contribute to the disease,” Taing Tek Hong said. “Infection is more common when there is a shortage of clean water for drinking, cooking and cleaning.”

The most common cause of diarrhea is an infection from a virus known as the norovirus,” he said. “It is transmitted by food that is contaminated by sick food-handlers or by infected person. Norovirus spreads very rapidly in communities such as overnight camps, prisons, dormitories and cruise ships. Rotavirus and E. Coli are the two most common causes of diarrhea in developing countries.”

Cholera, meanwhile, is an acute diarrhea caused by an infection of the intestine, he said.

“The persons who have cholera have a loss of body fluids leading to dehydration and a life-threatening medical condition,” he said. “Without treatment, death can occur within hours. A person may get cholera by drinking water or eating food contaminated with the cholera bacterium. The source of the contamination is usually the waste of an infected person. The disease can spread rapidly in areas with inadequate drinking water.”

To prevent diarrhea, Taing Tek Hong recommends drinking only water that has been boiled.

“Other safe beverages include tea, soda, Coca Cola or Sprite with no ice,” he said. “Eat only foods that have been fully cooked and are still hot. Avoid undercooked seafood or shellfish. Make sure all vegetables are cooked.”

And to prevent dehydration, continued feeding and rehydration are important. Zinc tablets can help reduce the severity and duration of diarrhea. And children should be immunized against the rotavirus that can cause the disease.

“Washing your hands with soap could potentially reduce the number of diarrhea cases,” Taing Tek Hong said. “The foundations of good health are safe water, adequate sanitation and proper hygiene.”

Many Succumb to Diarrhea in Prolonged Heat

Chun Sakada, VOA Khmer
Phnom Penh Thursday, 13 May 2010

Health officials are now meeting with villagers to explain to them proper hygiene and food preparation.

Serious diarrhea pushed by a prolonged hot season has killed at least 35 villagers since March, including two who died in Kampong Cham province on Wednesday, officials said.

The most serious cases occurred in Ratanakkiri province, where 15 people died in just over two weeks in April. And since March, seven total have died in Kampong Cham province, five in Kratie, four in Battambang, and two each in Prey Veng and Kampong Chhnang, according to provincial health officials.

The officials say the villagers drank water or ate food infected with microbes exacerbated by high temperatures. Cambodia is undergoing a prolonged hot season, which began in late March and has continued into May, when little rain has fallen.

Typically, Cambodians expect rainfall sometime shortly after Khmer New Year, in mid-April.

Minister of Health Mam Bunheng is now urging provincial offices to monitor the development of diarrhea outbreaks, following Wednesday’s deaths in Kampong Cham.

In that case, two people died in a rural village called Trapeang Chua in Chamkar Leur district, near the border of central Kampong Thom province. In that village, 185 villagers alone have severe diarrhea, according to Yim Navy, deputy chief of the district health center.

Sok Touch, chief of the Ministry of Health’s infectious disease department, said he and other health officials took a delivery of serum and medicine to the area Thursday morning.

Health officials are now meeting with villagers to explain to them proper hygiene and food preparation. Health officials say people should urinate and defecate in proper toilets, keep their houses clean and be careful with cooking and cleaning water.

Diarrhea deaths lead to hygiene campaign in Cambodia

PHNOM PENH, Feb. 8 (Xinhua) -- The Ministry of Health has launched a nationwide sanitation and hygiene awareness campaign following a series of deaths across the country caused by diarrhea, local media reported on Monday.

Ly Sovann, deputy director of the ministry's Communicable Diseases Control Department, said that as part of the campaign, which began on Saturday, officials had been stationed on the ground in every province to treat cases of diarrhea.

He said that diarrhea is of particular concern during the dry season because people are driven to drink unsanitary water.

"We are concerned about diarrhea this month, and for this campaign we have scattered expert officers to all 24 provinces in Cambodia," he was quoted by the Phnom Penh Post as saying.

A 11-year-old boy in Ratanakkiri province died after a bout of diarrhea last Thursday, and another person died of diarrhea the following day, said Pon Pun, the chief of Lonk Khon commune in Borkeo district, where the deaths occurred.

A series of reports of diarrhea and suspected cholera cases have recently sprung up in Prey Veng, Takeo and Kandal provinces, the newspaper reported.

Ly Sovann said authorities were also concerned about a potential cholera outbreak, but he said he could not confirm whether any cases had been detected, and he also could not provide specific information on the number of diarrhea cases reported nationwide.

The World Health Organization country representative Pieter Van Maaren said he also did not have data on the total number of diarrhea cases, but he said that outbreaks during the dry season were common.

Northern Vietnam struck by acute diarrhoea [-A religious persecution curse?!?]

8 Nov 2007
AFP

HANOI: More than 1,000 people in Vietnam's north have become sick with acute diarrhoea, including about 160 cases of cholera bacteria, health officials said on Thursday.

No deaths have been recorded. The disease has affected 1,051 people in 11 cities and provinces, including Hanoi, said health ministry spokesman Nguyen Quang Thuan.

Some 157 people have tested positive for the bacteria that causes cholera, he added.

"Although patients are infected with the cholera bacteria, it's not yet enough to say they suffer from cholera," he said.

The American embassy in Hanoi issued a warning earlier this week against "a growing outbreak of acute diarrhoea in the northern part of the nation," saying "some of he cases have been confirmed as cholera."

State-run media in Vietnam has urged health officials to acknowledge the problem to help limit spread of the disease, which was initially reported in late October.

"It's difficult to control the situation as there have been conditions for the boom of the epidemic" Tuoi Tre or Youth newspaper quoted Deputy Health Minister Trinh Quan Huan as saying.

Infection sources include shrimp products, water, salads and street food, the minister said.